The surprising AIM-HIGH results are not surprising when viewed through a particle lens.

摘要

The early stopping of the Atherothrombosis Intervention in Metabolic syndrome with low HDL/high triglycerides: impact on Global Health outcomes (AIM-HIGH) trial because of the lack of efficacy was a surprise and disappointment to many clinicians whose clinical experience with niacin is positive, because the drug favorably impacts several lipoprotein abnormalities believed to contribute to residual cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk beyond low-density lipoprotein (LDL). Personally, as someone taking niacin for a completely different reason, I was neither surprised nor disappointed nor dissuaded from continuing this regimen. The reason is the differing perspective one obtains from viewing lipoproteins and their clinical management through a particle lens rather than the traditional cholesterol lens through which AIM-HIGH was conceived and designed.